With the end of our San Gerardo adventure in sight we are working hard trying to work out what to do next. A few plans have come to mind but nothing concrete as of yet. As for life here, lots of interesting things have been happening. I have been helping out a bit with the coffee harvest. Its not back breaking work by any means, you basically just have to pick beans from a bush and put them in the basket in front of you, just like blackberry picking for grownups. The problems start when you get to a bush that is inhabited by a colony of ants. Like all insects in Costa Rica the ants here seem to have some super power that make their bites that bit more painful. Harvesting here involves whole families. This morning everyone from Rafa, the grandfather, down to little 3 year-old Gabbie were out picking. After about 31/2 hours of work I was told that the amount of beans I collected would have earned me 1000colones (about $2), yepeee!
I recently got involved with the local soccer team; I played a game about 2 weeks ago in torrential rain. Unfortunately I didn’t have football boots with me and no one else in the village had boots that would fit me so I had to play in my trainers. It wasn’t a good idea, breaking was impossible and every time I tried to stop I skid across the grass to the delight of the locals watching the game. After about 30 minutes and an injury to our goalkeeper I decided it might be better to go in goal. All went okay in goal, the Gaelic football skills came in handy and I was able to hold my own. In the meantime I have bought a pair of boots and I was training with the team yesterday in preparation for the big tournament next weekend.
Last weekend we got to take a trip to Eneidas home, which is a remote village about an hour from where we are at the moment. Before the trip we were told we would be visiting all her family in the area. I had expected a lot of time getting in and out of the car moving from one part of the town to another. However we discovered that they all lived pretty much within a five minute walk from each other. It was interesting to see how the family were so close and supportive of each other. Cousins were also best friends and a family dog was the whole family’s dog. Unfortunately it rained quite heavily while we were there, meaning that we didn’t get to see the whole area, but we were received very warmly by everyone we met.
Our days here are normally fairly relaxed and predictable however every now and then something strange happens that reminds us exactly where we are. For example last week we were walking along a road that we walk pretty much every day when we walked around a corner only to see a young bull flanked by a giant black eagle staring at us. It was like we had a caught them doing something. What exactly they were doing standing there together is beyond me. The bull looked at us we looked at it, both of us not quite sure what to do. Eventually we carefully passed it while it just as carefully passed us and the eagle flew away. It was kind of a weird moment. Another equally strange moment was when one of my students started breast feeding in one of my classes. I didn’t even realise she was doing it until I turned her way to ask her a question. It was another reminder of the differences in our cultures. We also have both come across people wearing clothes from our hometowns. A girl on the bus we were on last week was wearing a Cork GAA hat and a guy was wearing a t-shirt from “the cowgirl” in Santa Fe at the mass we attended in Eneidas home town. Both reminders of how small the world is.
With over two weeks left to go I am already thinking its going to be hard to say goodbye to San Gerardo. The people here are genuinely appreciative of us being here and the students are eager to learn. Hopefully the last two weeks here will be as enjoyable, interesting and memorable as the weeks before them.
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